Missing
by silvermoongirl10
Summary: Face, Hannibal and B.A. have been given four days rest, but Murdock hasn't. But when Murdock goes missing it's up to his friends to find him before it's to late. Rated it T just in case, this is my first fanfic so any comments are welcome!
1. 17th August 1969

_**17**__**th**__** August 1969 9:30pm**_

The team had been given four days rest from missions and their spirits were soaring. Hannibal, Face and B.A. were sat in their favourite bar; they were waiting for Murdock to arrive after checking in his chopper. But he was fifteen minutes late, when Face was about to go looking for him. The pilot walked in, but he didn't say anything he just sat down. B.A. and Face looked at each other, confused. "What's up Murdock?" asked Face,

"Well Facey, I won't be joining you guys for the four day rest; I am going to be flying missions"

"But you've earned a rest!" replied Face. Murdock just shrugged.

"Yeah fool, not only have you been flying us around, you've flown others to" put in B.A. Murdock again just shrugged. Face turned to Hannibal "Hannibal isn't there anything you can do for Murdock?"

"Who ordered this Lieutenant?"

"General Morrison" Murdock looked down at his watch and sighed. "Well see you guys later got to go fly some infantrymen up north" Hannibal, Face and B.A. could only watch as their shattered pilot walked out the bar towards the airfield. "It ain't right Hannibal, it ain't right their making him fly around when he's shattered" B.A. pointed out. "All the pilots are shattered B.A. but Murdock's the best, so he's always requested" replied Hannibal. The three men walked out the bar their good moods coming back down. They looked up as a chopper flew overhead; they saw Murdock in the pilot seat. In the distance they heard the distance rumble of shells. As they returned to their quarters they could only hope and pray Murdock would be alright.

As Face and B.A. walked into their quarters at 10:00 pm they sat on their bunks and looked in dismay at the empty bunk in front of them. Even though all week Murdock was the most shattered of the team, but he still managed to chat away about the missions he had flown that day. But tonight Face and B.A. would have to go to sleep without their friend, it wouldn't be the first time, but they couldn't help but feel guilty because they were having a few days off, but Murdock wasn't. By 12:00 am they were sat in the same places waiting for the sound of a returning chopper. They knew it wouldn't take Murdock two hours to fly some infantrymen up north. By 12:30 they had had enough and decided to find Hannibal. They walked across the compound to Hannibal's quarters they saw him walking towards him. They knew by the look on his face something was _very, very_ wrong.

"What's up Hannibal?" Asked B.A.

"I've just seen Morrison, Murdock's chopper was shot down. He's Missing in Action."


	2. 19th August 1969

_**19**__**th**__** August 1969**_

Missing in Action. Face didn't want to believe his best friend was MIA. It just couldn't be happening. It had been two days since Hannibal delivered the news. The team wanted to go and look for Murdock fearing he had gone down in a VC hot spot. But because a bad weather front had moved in all choppers and planes had been grounded. Morrison had been prepared for them to look for Murdock but General Zachary the CO for all flying personnel had personally given the grounding order, he told the team that he would have flown them himself if he could. It seemed Murdock was more popular around the other pilots and even Morrison and Zachary than the team thought.

"I wish this stupid weather front will disappear!" burst out Face. B.A. added "if it was one of us out there Murdock wouldn't care about the weather front, he would come for us and what are we doing we're sat here doing nothing!" The team hadn't felt right enjoying their rest while Murdock was lying injured somewhere. They all refused to believe that Murdock was dead or worse at the hands of the VC. They looked around when Major Powell came over to them. "if you want to find Murdock I am more than happy to fly you, the weather front has moved enough for us to go looking for the crash" the team jumped up and ran to Powell's chopper. They were up in record time. All on board were desperate to find Murdock. Powell had been briefed by Zachary where Murdock had been flying that night.

They were flying over the area scanning the ground, fortunately for them the fighting in this sector had calmed down. For now any way. "Major look there! Do you think that could be where he crashed?" Asked Face, praying they had found the site he just wanted to find Murdock. "Yep looks like that's where Murdock went down. I'll meet you guys at the Landing Zone at 15:00 hours" Powell brought them down not far up from the ground, the team jumped out of the chopper. When they looked at the crash site. They saw bits of chopper scattered everywhere, B.A. ran to the cockpit that had taken the brunt of the impact. He was scared of what he might find. He couldn't bear the thought of what life would be like without Murdock, sure he threatened to kill him a few times but he'd never do it, he would gladly take a bullet for Murdock. When he reached the cockpit he stood frozen. "HANNIBAL!" Hannibal and Face dashed to B.A. each step was agony; Face didn't want to see Murdock lying there dead. When Face and Hannibal reached the cockpit Face gasped, Murdock's helmet was on the pilot seat, but where was Murdock?


	3. The Lost Pilot

The team looked at each other shocked. When Face looked closer he spotted a blood trail. "Hannibal look!" the team followed the trail around the chopper, fearing the VC had taken Murdock. When they reached the end of the crash site, the jungle seemed to get thicker. To anyone who wasn't Special Forces wouldn't have noticed anything, but the team with their trained eyes spotted the long grass seemed to be flattened slightly, meaning someone was dragged that way. They took off the safety of their rifles. After ten minutes of searching the area they all faced the possibility that they may never see Murdock again. B.A. was determined to find the man he called a crazy fool, no one was _ever_ going to hurt Murdock if he had anything to do with it, and if they did all hell would break loose.

Up ahead they heard muffled shouts and screams of pain. The team bent low and moved forward. They wanted to find Murdock, but if someone was in trouble they would go and help. As they looked from behind a tree they saw a small group of VC soldiers beating a man on the floor, they knew the man was American from his uniform. One of the VC pulled the man up by his hair. B.A. gasped. It was Murdock. He was bleeding from a cut on his head, he had a bleeding nose and from the way he was grunting in pain most likely some bruised and broken ribs. Seeing his friend in such a state mad B.A. mad, he was shaking with anger he was about to run to VC soldiers and beat the living day lights out of them, when Hannibal put a hand in his shoulder, meaning to hang on a second. They turned back to what was happening with Murdock the VC soldier who seemed to be in charge was screaming at Murdock "WHERE DO YOU PLAN TO STRIKE NEXT!"Murdock, who most likely had a concussion from the crash, was just mumbling. From what B.A. could understand Murdock was just mumbling anything that came into his head, determined not to give the enemy any answers. The VC soldier jerked his head and another soldier kicked Murdock in the face. B.A. cringed he hated this sight, Murdock fell to the floor, but before the soldier could kick him again Murdock slowly sat up, grunting from the pain. He looked up at the leader of the group spat blood from his mouth at him and calmly said "go to hell" B.A. shut his eyes tight, he knew after that answer Murdock was in for a lot worse than a kick in the face. Murdock was pulled roughly to his feet, he swayed slightly, but his glaring eyes never left the leader. The leader gave an order in Vietnamese, B.A. had no idea what it was, Murdock was the only one who could speak the language in the team. B.A. looked at Murdock, a flicker of fear passed through his eyes, but it was gone in a second, he lifted his head higher, well as much as he could without it hurting too much. Just then Murdock looked in their direction and he saw them crouched there, unable to help. Murdock gave them a small smile that seemed to say _I knew you would come and get me_, when B.A. went to move closer, Murdock's smile disappeared and he shook his head. The click of a gun got B.A.'s and Murdock's attention. B.A.'s fear was coming true, they were going to shoot Murdock.


	4. Ours not to reason why

B.A. looked back at Murdock, Murdock's expression was calm, unfazed that there was a gun pointed at him. B.A. looked desperately at Hannibal, by the look of Face's expression he felt the same as B.A. Hannibal had the look of concentration on his face. Undoubtedly coming up with a plan. Hannibal made a signal to Murdock, the pilot made a slight nod; he turned away when the leader of the VC group spoke to him. "Any last words Lieutenant?" he sneered,

"Just a quote from my Grandfather's favourite poem, theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die" the last part Murdock looked in his teams direction as if to tell them that it was alright that they didn't get to him in time. B.A. looked at Hannibal as he heard him murmur "Into the valley of Death, rode the six hundred" Hannibal looked at Face and B.A. "The charge of the Light Brigade" Face and B.A. nodded. Murdock was always quoting the poem; Murdock said it made him feel better when he was feeling low. The team's attention went back to the situation. The VC leader just chuckled and barked an order at one of his men. Hannibal gave the signal for the team to attack. Just as the team burst through the bushes Murdock lunged himself at the leader and even in his weakened sate he gave a few good punches. However one of the other VC soldiers grabbed Murdock, but B.A. headed straight there and pulled the soldier off Murdock. As he turned round bullets started flying everywhere, he pulled his rifle off his shoulder and called to Murdock "take cover!" but the warning came too late. The leader had grabbed his pistol and fired it at Murdock; B.A. looked on in horror as time seemed to go slower Murdock crumpled to the floor and fell down a small embankment. B.A. saw the leader run away, Hannibal had seen this as well and fired at the leader who fell to the floor and didn't get back up. Face, Hannibal and B.A. ran down the embankment to Murdock's side. Murdock let out a groan; B.A. patted him on the shoulder to let him know he wasn't alone. Murdock looked up at B.A. he tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace. Hannibal had taken a bandage and pressed it on Murdock's abdomen. "Face radio Powell and tell him to land his chopper at the crash site and to make it quick!" ordered Hannibal, Face just nodded.

"Knew… you guys… would… find me…" panted Murdock,

"Shut up fool, you need to save your strength" cut in B.A.

"I heard your… chopper coming… managed to… get out of… the cockpit… but that lot… came over… glad you showed up when… you did… Ahh!" Murdock withered in pain.

"Easy Lieutenant, we'll get you back to base and you can tell General Zachary your tales yourself" said Hannibal, when B.A. looked at him he saw Hannibal's hands covered in red. Murdock was bleeding, bad.

"Hannibal how we gonna get him to the crash site? If we move him to much he'll bleed to death!"

"We haven't got a choice B.A." came the reply. When Murdock let out another groan, B.A. was worried, Murdock's groans were getting weaker. Face turned to Hannibal "Powell says he's just landing" Hannibal nodded; he looked at B.A. and said "carry Murdock quickly but not too fast the bleeding has slowed slightly, just try not to make it start again." B.A. could only nod; he picked Murdock's tall frame up and walked fast back to the crash site. He looked down at Murdock whose brown eyes were looking up at him. Murdock mumbled.

"Theirs… not to reason… why, theirs… but to do and die-"

"You ain't die fool!" argued B.A. Murdock just looked up at him, his expression calm, just like when he heard the order the VC leader had given. It scared B.A., because he knew a bullet wound to the abdomen was very serious, if they didn't get Murdock back to base fast, he would bleed to death. Murdock knew this, that's why Murdock's expression scared him; it was like Murdock knew he was going to die. _Not if I can help it_ B.A. growled to himself.

They reached the crash site, Powell had landed his chopper. His expression was fearful when he saw B.A. carrying Murdock. Hannibal and Face got into the helicopter first and took Murdock from B.A. and laid him on the floor, B.A. climbed in and shouted to Powell "GO!" Powell didn't need telling twice and the chopper took to the air.


	5. Ours to do and die

B.A. sat at Murdock's side, he felt so guilty. He should have made sure Murdock had taken cover before worrying about his dam rifle. Murdock seemed to be reading his mind because he tugged on B.A.'s sleeve and B.A. leaned closer to Murdock. "Not… your fault… B.A…" Then Murdock lost consciousness.

"Murdock! Come on you crazy fool stay with me!" B.A. lightly shook the pilots shoulder, but the pilot made no reply, his hand still on B.A.'s sleeve. B.A. took the pilot's hand and squeezed it.

When they landed at base there were medics already waiting for them. Powell had radioed ahead. As the medics placed Murdock on a stretcher B.A. was still holding his hand. He still held onto it until a nurse prised his hand away. She looked him in the eye and led him to the waiting area, B.A. respected her she wasn't giving any false hope saying Murdock would be fine. Because she knew as well as B.A. that Murdock was lucky to have survived this far.

Two hours later a surgeon came over to the team. His face was pale. _No, oh please no! Please don't let Murdock be dead please!_ "Lieutenant Murdock is very lucky, we almost lost him" B.A. released the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Will he be alright doc?" Asked Hannibal,

The doctor sighed, "I don't know, we've done all we can. It's up to the Lieutenant now. The next twenty four hours will be crucial" the doctor led the team to Murdock's bed on the ward. B.A. was unprepared for the sight he faced. Murdock was deathly pale, his breathing was ragged. The team sat around his bed, they weren't going to leave him until he woke up and if that meant staying for twenty four hours or more, that's exactly what they were going to do.

The team were dozing around Murdock's bed; Murdock had been unconscious for thirty two hours. "Hey you ugly mudsucker" B.A., Face and Hannibal almost leaped out of their chairs.

"Hey yourself you crazy fool"

Murdock just grinned up at the team.

"Told ya you wouldn't die" said B.A.

Murdock chuckled, but it turned into a coughing fit. Hannibal sat Murdock up slightly and rubbed his back to help him subdue the coughing and steady his breathing. When the coughing fit was over Face said "better try and rest up buddy" Murdock just nodded, Face got a glass and filled it with water and helped Murdock to drink the water. Hannibal and B.A. didn't need to ask how Face knew Murdock wanted some water. Murdock and Face were close friends; they could read each other like books. "So when do you think I leave this place?" asked Murdock,

Hannibal just shook his head, "Lieutenant you've had a serious wound you need to rest up for at least three weeks"

"_Three weeks!_ Aw Hannibal!"

"Doctors' orders Murdock" Face and B.A. just smiled at each other. They had their pilot back.


	6. The urge to fly

Murdock had been discharged from the base hospital for a week. He said he was ready to fly again, but he had been grounded for a further three weeks. There hadn't been any missions for the team so they were able to spend time with Murdock, as they knew that a grounded pilot was a troublemaker. B.A. headed back to their quarters from the motor pool, Face was on a date with a nurse he met on Murdock's ward. B.A. looked at Murdock's bunk, but the pilot wasn't on his bunk. B.A. sighed; he knew where the pilot was.

B.A. arrived at the helipad and sure enough he saw Murdock sat in one of the helicopters. He walked over to the pilot who didn't hear him coming.

"What ya doing here fool?"

Murdock jumped and winced; B.A. went to the windscreen of the chopper and faced Murdock.

"You alright?"

"Yep" Murdock held his side until the pain subsided. He saw B.A. watching him eyebrows raised. "I'm ok B.A. really it's just a twinge!"

"You're supposed to be resting fool"

Murdock just smirked at him, and then he looked down at the controls. Then he let out a sigh. "Why did I crash the dam chopper?" Murdock wasn't questioning B.A., but B.A. walked around to the co-pilot seat and sat next to Murdock.

"Look here Murdock, it's not your fault, you were flying over a VC hot spot there was always the danger you could get hit"

Murdock looked up at B.A. smiled and said "that's the first time you haven't called me a fool"

"Well don't go telling anyone fool otherwise I'll break your arm!"

"Hahaha! Nice to see your back to normal I was getting worried after all the nice things you were saying about me!" grinned Murdock, he then carefully got out of the chopper and as he walked back to the quarters he whistled a tune B.A. had never heard before, but that was Murdock.

Face, Murdock and B.A. were laughing and joking in their quarters when Hannibal, and Generals Morrison and Zachary came over. The Lieutenant's and sergeant stood to attention. "At ease boys" said Hannibal.

Zachary stepped forward and beckoned Murdock over. "Now son I have always been impressed with your skills as a pilot, but I am especially proud of how you handled the situation you found yourself in three weeks ago"

"Thank you sir"

"So Morrison and Hannibal have agreed with me and I am pleased to promote you to the rank of Captain." Zachary chuckled when he saw Murdock's surprised expression. He took away Murdock's Lieutenant bars and replaced them with his new Captain bars. Murdock saluted the Generals and Hannibal. When the Generals left B.A. and Face patted him on the back.

"Well done buddy" said Face "I mean sir" Murdock just lightly punched him on the shoulder.

"Well done _Captain_" added Hannibal. Murdock was beaming from ear to ear.

Murdock still had one more week until he was allowed to fly again. He was lying on his bunk while Hannibal, Face and B.A. were talking about their plan for the mission Morrison had given them. Their pilot was Powell who asked Murdock's advice about the LZ. As they were leaving Murdock let out a sigh not realizing Face still hadn't left yet.

"What's up buddy?"

"Nothing"

"Come on if it was nothing why the sigh?"

"I'm just bored that's all"

"We'll be back by 16:00 hours and Powell is coming back after dropping us off so you can hang out with him"

"Yeah sure, see you later" with that Murdock turned onto his good side, which happened to be facing away from Face. Face just looked at Murdock for a few seconds then left. He felt sorry for Murdock he knew how much he wanted to fly and Murdock probably felt down because ever since his arrival in Vietnam he had been the teams pilot and for the first time he had to sit back and watch someone else fly them.

Murdock looked at his watch for the tenth time in five minutes. The team should be back any minute, he then heard a chopper coming in, but he knew something was wrong. Despite the pain he ran to the helipad and saw Powell fall out of his chopper, the windscreen had smashed and Powell had blood all over his face.

"What happened Powell?"

"LZ came under attack tried to get the team out, but the tail of the Chopper got hit I was lucky to get it back here-" Powell then fainted, Murdock passed him onto a medic took of Powell's helmet and ran for another chopper, he started it up and flew to the LZ. He knew exactly where it was because of Powell asking for his advice.

When Murdock got to the LZ he saw tracer bullets flying everywhere. He spotted the team at the edge of some trees. As he landed they ran over to him.

"Glad to see you again Powell- MURDOCK! What are you _doing_ here" yelled Hannibal,

"Powell got wounded so I came to get you"

Hannibal just shook his head. Murdock was going to get a big telling off and there was nothing he could do, Murdock had disobeyed a direct order grounding him. However he was very glad to see Murdock, he liked Powell, but Murdock was the best pilot on base, even in Vietnam. He turned around when he heard B.A. complaining

"What you doing here fool? You are a crazy pilot normally now your still recovering, I'm gonna hate this flight!"

Murdock just grinned; he figured it was worth getting told off to save his team.

When they landed back at base Murdock spotted General Zachary standing waiting for them.

"Oh boy, here we go"

The team just watched Murdock turn off the control and climb out and walked over to Zachary.

"So Murdock you decided to fly a chopper even though you have been grounded"

"Yes sir, Powell was wounded"

"So you took matters into your own hands and didn't call another pilot and tell them of the situation"

"Yes sir"

B.A. and Face looked at Hannibal, who shook his head. There was nothing he could do, he maybe Murdock's CO when it came to the team, but Zachary was Murdock's flying personnel CO. The team could only watch and see what the outcome would be.

"You have only been a Captain for two weeks! Do you _want_ to demote yourself?"

"No sir"

"Well consider yourself lucky, I am not going to take any action against you, but I will if you don't stay grounded for the remainder of the week. Think you can handle that?"

"Yes sir" Murdock saluted Zachary, Zachary just walked away shaking his head. He wasn't surprised by Murdock's actions, he even admired them, but he had to be hard on him otherwise he would have other pilots disobeying orders. Murdock walked back over to the chopper and breathed a sigh of relief and grinned at the team.

"Looks like you'll have me back as your pilot next week"

"Oh someone help us!" cried Face, Murdock went to punch Face playfully but he ducked and ran around the chopper with Murdock chasing after him.

"Hey! You can't run from a superior officer!"

"Try me!" replied Face.

Hannibal and B.A. just sat grinning to themselves.

"Next week B.A. everything will be back to normal"

"Don't you mean as normal as things can get with that crazy pilot!" came the reply. Hannibal smiled, and watched as Face got Murdock in a headlock, he laughed when he saw Murdock wriggle out and caused Face to fall on the ground.

"I love it when a plan comes together"

**Authors note.** Well that's the end, hope you enjoyed reading it! Hopefully soon I will be writing some more stories.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!


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